The present invention relates to utensils, and more particularly to improved baking utensils.
In the prior art, there are many utensils designed for use in preparation of baked goods. Most of the prior art baking utensils make it extremely difficult to remove a pie or cake from the pan without tearing up the baked goods and generally destroying the effort that the cook has spent a good deal of time in preparing.
There have been several approaches to solve the problem of baked goods sticking to the bottom of the baking utensils. One example of such a prior art device is a round baking utensil having a relatively flat member pivotally mounted at the center of the baking pan on the inner surface extending radially outward to the edge of the baking pan and then having a member extending upward so that after a round pie or cake has been baked, this pivotally mounted member may be rotated around the edge of the baking pan to separate the baked goods from the pan. A major disadvantage of this type of prior art baking utensil is that the concept may be used effectively only with round baking pans.
Other prior art attempts at solving the sticking problem have resulted in single use baking utensils where a portion of the periphery of the baking utensil was broken or bent away to allow access to the baked goods contained within the utensil. An example of this type of prior art device is U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,484. The most obvious disadvantage of such device is that it is expensive being a single use device which must be disgarded after one use.